Gliederung

Background: The prognostic significance of DTC in the BM of breast cancer patients at the time of primary diagnosis has recently been confirmed by a large pooled analysis (Figure 1 [Fig.Â 1]). If the persistence of DTC after adjuvant therapy confers a similar risk for relapse, there might be an indication for secondary adjuvant treatment.

Methods: We analyzed BM aspirates of 584 patients from academic breast cancer units in Oslo (n=356) and Munich (n=228) during recurrence-free follow-up at a median interval of 38.6 months (standard deviation [std] 18.9 mon) after primary diagnosis of breast cancer pT1-4, pN0-3 pM0. Carcinoma cells were detected using a standardized immunoassay with the monoclonal antibodies A45-B/B3 (Munich) or AE1 and AE3 (Oslo), directed against cytokeratin (CK). Patients were followed for a median of 62.7 months (std 23.1 mon) after primary diagnosis.